In carrying forward the concepts disclosed and claimed in the above-mentioned application and particularly in converting into actual production equipment the theoretical concepts and experimental equipment upon which said application was based, a number of practical problems arose which it is the purpose of the present invention to consider and solve. In so doing, it was decided for present purposes to provide the desired laterally operative mechanism for operation in conjunction with a suitably modified rotary press, Model B-2, manufactured and sold by F. J. Stokes Corporation, 5500 Tabor Road, Philadelphia 20, Pa. In view of this, the following discussion as well as the subsequent disclosure and accompanying drawings are all in terms of said particular model and make of rotary press. It will be understood, however, that such is for illustrative purposes only and much of said mechanism is applicable with only minor if any modifications to the Model BB-2 Stokes rotary press and its broader concepts will be applicable both to other models of Stokes machines as well as to machines of the same general type made by other manufacturers.
Therefore, in considering the application of such side thrust means as is set forth in the above-identified application to the Stokes Model B-2 above mentioned, the first practical problem encountered was the fact that a strain rod ran from top to bottom of the machine at exactly the point on its periphery where the lateral pressure imposing mechanism had to be positioned.
Further, when this problem was solved by interrupting such strain rod and connecting segments thereof to the top and bottom of the housing containing the lateral force generating mechanism, it then became necessary to arrange such mechanism in such a manner that the housing could be made strong enough without excessive mass or other inconvenience to transmit the strain therethrough from the upper segment of the strain rod to the lower segment thereof.
In so doing, it was also necessary to keep in mind that the radially positioned punch as set forth in said above-identified application moves a distance of only a few thousandths of an inch to perform its desired function and hence it was necessary that the roller should be resiliently loaded in such a manner as to be effective upon such slight movement. Thus, it was necessary to build a high degree of precision into the means holding said roller inactive when in a position between successive radical punches and yet cause the mechanism to be capable of exerting the necessary high pressure, of the order of several thousand p.s.i., such as 40,000 p.s.i., when such roller came in contact with such a punch.
Accordingly, the objects of the invention include:
1. To provide specific production mechanism for carrying out the objectives of the above-identified application and the experimental apparatus on which said application was based.
2. To provide means, as aforesaid, which can be placed in the position otherwise occupied by a strain rod in the B-2 Stokes machine above-identified.
3. To provide apparatus, as aforesaid, capable of generating upon successively presented radial punches relatively high but precisely controlled pressures with only a few thousandths inch movement of the pressure imposing means.
4. To provide apparatus, as aforesaid, which will be self-contained, compact and simple, particularly so as to be capable of placement for simultaneous operation with the rollers operating the vertical punches of the above-identified F. J. Stokes Corporation machine, and others similar, without interference therewith and without excessive inconvenience to the operator.
5. To provide apparatus, as aforesaid, which can provide the desired operation of each radial punch simultaneously with the axial punches by placement of the operating means for the radial punches in radial alignment with the operating means for the axial punches.
6. To provide apparatus, as aforesaid, which will be capable of ready adjustment with simple tools and which when adjusted will remain in proper adjustment for a long period of operation.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with apparatus of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspection of the accompanying drawings.